Page 48 of The Holiday Cottage

The main course was placed in front of them—glazed duck with fondant potatoes.

“What will you do?”

“I haven’t finalized my plans.” Imogen’s head was tilted down, her focus on her plate. “I’ll probably just stay at home,” she said. “Lie in. Read some books. Catch up on sleep and TV. All the things I don’t normally have time for. It will be fantastic. The great thing about spending Christmas on your own is that you can be entirely selfish. You can watch whichever TV program you like with no disagreements over the remote control, you can cook or not cook. Only yourself to think about. If I can’t be bothered I can just make a grilled cheese sandwich and no one will care. Brilliant.”

A grilled cheese sandwich.No one will care.

Dorothy cared. And she sensed Imogen cared too.

The ache in her chest intensified and she put down her knife and fork.

She couldn’t stand this.

“Imogen—”

Imogen put her knife and fork down too and looked up. “I’m really sorry, Dorothy, but I’m not feeling well. Headache. I didn’t sleep well last night. I should have canceled, but—”

“I’m glad you didn’t cancel, because I really wanted to see you.” Dorothy paused, unsure how best to handle this. “We’ve known each other for a while now, Imogen. I know that technically I’m a client, but I hope I’m also a friend. You can trust me.”

“Oh, I do. You’re always so kind.” Imogen picked up her glass and took a sip of water. “You’re my favorite client, but don’t tell anyone that obviously. Sorry. This is so unprofessional.”

“Not at all.” Dorothy ignored the people around her. “Why didn’t you sleep well? Is something wrong?”

“No. Well, maybe a few things, but nothing important. A few personal issues.” She hesitated and then put her glass down and gave Dorothy a tired smile. “Honestly? I don’t want a month off. I’d rather work. I like to stay busy, you know? Things feel easier when I’m busy.”

Dorothy did know. “When life is hard, it sometimes helps to have no time to think about it. I understand that. What I don’t understand is why are you taking a month off if you don’t want it? I’m surprised Rosalind would allow it.”

“It was her suggestion.” Imogen scrunched her napkin into a ball, her knuckles white. “Actually, not a suggestion. She thinks I need it. I don’t think she’s right. I mean, Rosalind isgreat,” she said hastily. “Really brilliant. Best boss ever. And it’s true that I have been busy. We won a few new clients, and maybe I’ve taken on a bit too much, but I love it so it didn’t seem like a problem to me.”

But it had clearly seemed like a problem to Rosalind. Dorothy had the utmost respect for Rosalind. If she was concerned, then there must be a good reason.

“What do you do in your free time, Imogen?”

“Free time?” Imogen had a glazed look on her face as if she was trying to remember what that was. “I do loads of things. I have a black belt in jujitsu—the Japanese variety, not the Brazilian. I started in my last year of school, and I’ve done it ever since. I train with a club here in London and usually I go a couple of times a week, although when I started working for Rosalind it became more like once a week. Less than that sometimes.” She paused, thinking. “In fact, I haven’t been since April because I’ve been super busy. But I keep meaning to go. It’s a great way to keep fit, as well as being useful for self-defense. I prefer it to the gym.”

But she hadn’t been since April. And it was now December.

“It sounds like a fun thing to do. And being based here in London you have so many options for entertainment. Do you like theater?”

“Loveit. The last thing I saw was that controversial staging ofHamlet.” The napkin was now so twisted that Dorothy doubted that even a steam iron would restore it to its previous state of pristine smoothness.

“The one last year?”

“No, it was this year.” Imogen frowned. “Or maybe it was last year. Time flies.”

By the time they’d finished their duck, Dorothy had ascertained that not only had Imogen all but given up martial arts and hadn’t been to the theater for over a year, she’d also not been to the cinema and had only read one book since the summer.

She was starting to understand why Rosalind had insisted Imogen take a month off.

“So what will you do with your time? A month off is a real chance to recover. Will you stay at home?”

Imogen seemed to pull herself together. “I haven’t decided. This only happened this morning, so I haven’t had a chance to get my head around it. I’ll probably stay in London. Maybe I’ll finally manage to see a play or go to jujitsu.” She put her knife and fork down. “The duck was completely delicious.”

She’d eaten about two mouthfuls, but Dorothy didn’t comment on that.

She couldn’t bear to think of Imogen on her own in London eating a grilled cheese sandwich on Christmas Day.

“Have you considered a break in the country? I have a holiday cottage on my estate.” The words were out before she could stop herself. “You could use it.”

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